The Dastardly Plan!
by Mouchies
Summary: Rukia and her new best friend have a couple obstacles in the way of their crushes, so they come up with a dastardly plan to get the men of their dreams! Ichiruki, Toushiro x OC, minimal Ichihime, RenjixOC and Hitsuhina
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Stupid Ichigo!

**Mouchies; Heyas! I haven't been writing stories in awhile, so don't blame me if I suck!**  
**Rukia; Aww, you don't-**  
**Ichigo; You suck.**  
**Mouchies; Straight to the gut, huh, Ichigo? You feelin grumpy today?**  
**Ichigo; Whatever.**  
**Mouchies does not own, because if she did, Momo would be drowning in the septic tank while Soifon had a ridiculously larger role than she does now.**  
**Toushiro; *being glomped by Mouch* This chapter is in Ichigo's POV. Everyone may or may not be entirely OOC.**

It was a seriously boring day. So boring, in fact, that Kon had convinced Rukia and me to play Monopoly with him. Any other day, I'd be strangling him to death, but today I need entertainment and I suppose watching him trying to molest Rukia while simultaneously playing the game was pretty interesting.

Suddenly there was a bang on my door. I shoved Rukia and Kon into the closet as fast as possible and opened the door. There was Karin, bending over a girl who had evidently just ran headfirst into my bedroom door and ended up knocked out in the process.

Karin looked past me into the room. "Are you playing Monopoly against yourself again, Ichigo?"

I mentally slapped myself for not tossing the game into the closet behind Rukia and Kon, but that was a different story. I looked at the girl on the floor and said, "What's Soifon doing here?"

Karin just looked at me and said, "That's Masaru, not a phone made of soy. What're you talking about?"

"Why does that girl have a boy's name?"

Karin shrugged and bent back over Soifon's lookalike. On closer inspection, this girl looked younger and slightly less muscular than Soifon herself. Her hair was lighter and lacking in Soifon's rattails, though it was still chin-length. Her features looked far more relaxed and less sharp than Soifon's.

Still, she had the reiatsu of a soul reaper, and that concerned me. Since the Arrancar had been defeated and things had died down, I was ever more wary of Soul reapers coming to visit. It usually meant trouble and I didn't need trouble right now.

"I know she's a Soul Reaper," Karin said, not looking at me, "but she's just here for a vacation. She's still only in training. Besides, she's too dumb to be important."

She's got a point. Anyone who would go running headfirst into a door probably isn't the most coordinated of people.

Speaking of which, Masaru gave a groan and opened her eyes to a squint. "I must be dreaming," she muttered, "It looks like that guy who saved the soul society is leaning over me."

"Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you he's my brother?" Karin asked.

Masaru didn't respond. She just stared at me and said, "Hmm. Nose hairs." She then sat up, gave me one last look, and commented, "My sister was right. You look even more stupid up close than you do from far away."

Rukia suddenly bounded out of my room, pushed me aside, and shouted in disbelief, "Masaru-chan?"

Masaru's eyes lit up with joy as she pounced on Rukia and let forth with "Ruki-neechan!"

Karin looked blankly at Rukia as I looked blankly at Masaru. "Rukia, you have...?"

"What? No, stupidhead! We're just best friends!" Rukia glared at me, as if angry that I'd interrupted her reunion. "I'm like a big sister to her since her real one has no time for her!"

Karin rolled her eyes and muttered, "I'm just not going to ask why you were hiding this girl in your room."

"Who's her real sister, then?" I asked. They ignored me and chattered on about random things like hell butterflies and school and juice boxes while I continued to try in vain to attract their attention. Finally I lost it and yelled "WHO THE HELL IS HER SISTER?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Masaru snorted. "It's-"

There was a crash as the glass on my window smashed and two bodies hit the floor of my room. "Masaru," Soifon growled, "Don't you dare tell me you slacked off and came to Earth again just to 'hang out' with your human 'buddies'..." Behind her, Toushiro was dusting himself off as Soifon leered at her little sister.

Masaru's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Neechan," she gasped, "You... You..."

"You brought Chike-chan!" she exclaimed, glomping Toushiro. He calmly stood there as if her disrespecting his position and calling him humiliating nicknames was something he was used to.

"Chike?" Karin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Short for chibi-suke," Soifon sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have brought him, but he was the only one available who knew the area well."

Toushiro was beginning to grow petulant when Soifon pulled Masaru off of him. "Go home, Masaru," she told her. "I'm getting fed up with your graduation from shinigami school being postponed. You need to get into stealth training soon before they decide you're not worth it."

Masaru gave Soifon a look as if she was tired of repeating herself. "I told you, Neechan, I don't want to join second division! I want to be in thirteenth and get to visit Earth!"

"You don't 'get to visit' anyone, Masaru! You have to take life seriously and do as you're told if you ever want to get to my status, and when you do, you're going to have to be satisfied with the soul society, _not Earth!"_

And here I thought Soifon was harsh just in regular life.

"Oh, you think It's all about you, that it would be _so much_ better if I could just be a boy, huh? Well, I have some news for you; If I were a boy, I'd be _even worse, _Neechan! So shut up and let me be myself!"

"Did you just tell me to-"

Karin was looking more than a little pissed. "Would you two take this outside where we don't have to put up with your screaming?" she interrupted Soifon.

Soifon rolled her eyes and grabbed Masaru's arm. "We're going back to the Soul Society so you can apologize to your instructors," she said firmly.

Masaru looked desperately toward Toushiro, searching for support. "Chibi-suke?"

Toushiro's face was merciless. "I only agreed to come to tell you," he growled quietly, "No matter how much you follow me around and call me stupid nicknames, I'm a captain and you're just a rebellious student. I have no time for your idiotic games."

He turned and jumped to the windowsill. "I'll see you at the captain's meeting," he said, nodding to Soifon.

After Toushiro left, Rukia stepped in and finally gave Masaru some defense. "Soifon," she begged, "Please, let her stay here just one more night. You know we're best friends, and I get so lonely without her with just this buttface for company."

"I hope you don't mean me," I muttered, knowing she wasn't listening.

Soifon sighed, "I suppose it can't be helped. But if she misses _one more day _of school unexcused, she's going to be expelled. I hope you realize that."

Rukia and Masaru cheered as Soifon shunpoed away. "Masaru," I interrupted, "How long has your graduation been postponed?"

Masaru sneered at me. "Oh, about a decade, human time. But I don't understand why they can't just give me a pass - I already have a zanpakutou and I've already achieved shikai with it. Most people who've graduated can't even do that."

"But you also have to have a mastery of Kido," Rukia reminded her, "Or you'll never pass the Final Exam."

"But Kido is so _boring,_" Masaru whined.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Karin cut in, "but I am _not _repairing your window for you, Ichigo." She exited the room.

I looked at the clock. 5:45! "Shit, my date with Orihime's in fifteen minutes," I swore, gathering my things, "Watch the house while I'm gone!"

Rukia grabbed my shirt before I could run off. "You have a guest, Ichigo," she told me with a pleading look in her eyes, "Can't you stay here with us?"

I snorted. "Of course not!" I said, impatient. "Orihime's waiting for me!"

I ran as fast as I could, but I was ten minutes late for my reservation. It didn't matter, Orihime wasn't there yet.

I waited. And waited. At ten to seven, I called Orihime. "Huh?" she exclaimed over the phone. "Oh my, is it that late already? I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-kun, time just got away from me, that's all..." I heard her talking to someone, then she said, "I'll be right there, Kurosaki-kun, don't worry!"

Fifteen minutes later, Orihime arrived, panting, at the restaurant. "I really am sorry, Kurosaki-kun, I'll be more careful next time," she said, her huge eyes staring at me in repentance, "I was with Ishida-kun, and we completely lost track of time!"

Mention of Ishida threw me off a little, but I calmed myself and asked politely, "What did you do with him?"

"Oh, we were down by the river, and Tatsuki was there at first, but then she left and we were still having just as much fun."

Okay, this is awkward. But I think I'm the only one who thinks so.

I quietly listened to Orihime go on and on about something or other, distracted by her description of the day. I knew that Ishida and Orihime were very close friends, but it still bothered me that she had spent the whole day with him and not with me, even though I'd had absolutely nothing to entertain myself the entire time.

At the end of the date, I walked Orihime home and went on my way alone.

I think I might be an idiot.

**Mouchies; I know about the change in Rukia's living conditions and all that, but I like her better in the closet, so in the closet she'll stay. (Wow, that sounded weird...)**  
**Toushiro; Apparently, anyone who reviews gets a "plushie" of their choice. Hooplah.**  
**Mouchies; I want a plushie of Chibi-suke!**  
**Toushiro; Don't call me that.**  
**Pleezpleezpleez review! I don't care if you flame(though I would appreciate some constructive criticism more than anything...)!**

**FYI; chibi = little, suke = man or manly, so chibi-suke = little man.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Mouchies; At long last, I'm back!**  
**Toushiro; Joy and happy day... I think...**  
**Mouchies; Thank you to Thunder Claw03 for favoriting!**  
**Bleach does not belong to Mouchies, because if it did, Soifon would kill Momo in a very gory and disturbing manner.**  
**This one's in Rukia's POV. Again, everyone may or may not be entirely OOC.**

Masaru and I had decided not to bother the Kurosakis and were currently sitting on a cliff somewhere chatting.

"Aww, admit it Rukia-chan, you like him!" Masaru was saying, winking and nudging me.

I blushed, embarrassed. "He's an idiot," I resisted, knowing Masaru wouldn't stop until she got the honest truth out of me.

"A pretty darn _awesome _idiot! He saved the soul society and you! Not only that, but he's really hot, even if he looks like a buttface!"

"He has a girlfriend," I muttered back, knowing what she would say.

"Well, Chibi-suke's with Hinamori-fukutaichou, and that hasn't stopped me! Besides," She continued, winking yet again, "I have a plan!"

Oh, god. Not a plan.

"There's a lot of empty spaces in the Gotei 13 right now, right?" Masaru continued, "So I figure if we can get into two of those spaces, there'll be no way they can turn us down!"

I just looked at her. "Yeah, right. For one, Nii-sama would never let me even _try _to get into one of those ranks. You know that. And two, you're way too lazy for anyone to even consider you as a seated officer."

"Well then, how did Kyouraku-taichou end up a captain?"

I sighed, "Fine, but you still don't have the right skills to pass the test for graduating, let alone for becoming an officer."

Masaru looked at me as if I wasn't getting something. "Then I'll just get myself recommended."

I smiled, this conversation was getting pretty interesting. "Who in their right mind would recommend you?"

Masaru thought a little bit. "Ukitake-san's getting pretty weak, and he's definitely in need of a fukutaichou. If he recommended me for the position, I'd probably at least get the support of the other fukutaichous, since I'm kinda well known and-"

"Are you crazy?" I cut in, "There's no way you could get recommended for such a position! Just the idea of being a seated officer is insane, and you want to be a _fukutaichou?"_

"Chibi-suke won't be impressed by anything less!"

Masaru had a point. She could be very smart when she put her head into things, and if this plan of hers worked... well...

I thought about Ichigo. He loved Orihime so much, he'd go into the depths of Hueco Mundo to help her. He was so in love with her that he hardly ever noticed me.

I want him to be that in love with me. But how could I ever get his attention? How could I make him love me?

Masaru's plan was beginning to make sense. If I could do something so outrageous as become a fukutaichou, would Ichigo notice me? Would it be enough to make him mine?

Masaru was grinning. That was a look I knew all too well.

Maybe it's time to do something outrageous for a change.

"I'm in," I finally replied, looking at Masaru, "But we need to change Niisama's mind about me first."

"Alrighty," Masaru cried happily, "I'm so glad Rukia-chan's on board!"

"But how are you going to make Ukitake-taichou recommend you in the first place?"

Masaru paused. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Clearly," I laughed.

"Well, we already get along really well, don't we? The entire thirteenth squad likes me a lot. They all know I love Earth and would do anything to protect it."

"That's not exactly enough to get them to recommend you."

"I'm pretty strong, too, and my zanpakutou and I already have a great relationship."

"That's still not going to get you much higher than fifteenth seat, at most."

"Maybe I should learn Bankai," Masaru wondered aloud, not listening.

"Uuh, no. That's a captain-level ability, and trying to become fukutaichou is enough."

"Then what would you suggest?"

I considered her question. "If you helped to save the Soul Society from an evil maniac who was creating extremely dangerous hollows, that would probably help."

"But Ichigo's already done that! If I'm going to save the Soul Society from something, I want it to be something original! Besides, that's another thing that requires captain-level power, which is something that I definitely don't have."

"Well," I said, shrugging, "I don't know what to say. Anyway, can I see your shikai? You still haven't shown me."

"Oh, right!" Masaru jumped up, realizing what I'd said was true. We were already in shinigami form, of course(How else would we have gotten so far from Ichigo's house with no effort at all?), so I could already see that she had two swords instead of one.

Drawing her swords out of their sheaths, I saw that one was pure black, the other pure white. The black one was slightly longer and heavier-looking than the white one, carried in her right hand, while the white one was daintier and shorter, held in her left.

"They're pretty unusual, even for double swords," Masaru explained, holding them out for me to see, "Because they have entirely different appearances and abilities."

To summon shikai, she called out, "Count down to death, Hime Hana-Tora!"

The white sword began to lengthen, grow slowly slimmer, rounder, pointier, until the end was incredibly sharp, even deadly, the sword resembling a skewer more than it did a sword.

The black sword was growing shorter, blunter at the tip with a jagged edge, denser and denser, proving to become deadly not only at the hand of the sawlike edge but also at the blunt, squarish tip, which would knock anyone out with a good whack.

"This is Hime Hana," Masaru continued, holding up the white sword, "And the other's Hime Tora."

"Show me what they can do."

Masaru grinned. "Gladly." Pointing Hime Hana at a large rock sitting a few feet away, she called, "Ichi," and Hime Hana released a sudden burst of something white and shiny, resulting in the rock being encrusted in ice. The recoil from firing had made Masaru stagger a little, but she held up fine.

Pointing Hime Tora at a tree a little farther away, she called, "Ni," and Hime Tora released a fireball at the target. The tree had a hole burned clean through the middle, and it slowly fell. Just as with Hime Hana, the recoil made her flinch just a little.

Pointing both swords at another tree, she called the final word, "San," and with a brilliant burst, the tree was eradicated, shards of ice and burn marks surrounding where it once stood. Masaru had been knocked to the ground by the blast, but the swords had done their jobs. The tree was no more.

"Are you sure that's just shikai?" I exclaimed, thinking that was pretty good for a student.

Masaru said nothing while getting up and walking up to another tree. Using both zanpakutou to make two parallel lines down the trunk, we watched as the area around the left one became encrusted with ice while the area around the right one began to slowly burn away. Strangely serious, she turned to me and said, "They're really powerful. I don't know why someone like me has such amazing swords, but I think it's meant to be."

Walking to the edge of the cliff, she remarked, "Somehow, I have to become a seated officer. I'm not trying to be cocky or anything, but I know I can do it." Turning to me, she continued, "But not without the help of you and these zanpakutou."

"You know, it really annoys me when you talk all melodramatic like that," I told her.

She smirked and replied, "That's why I do it."

* * *

The next morning, we were back at Ichigo's house, sleeping in his closet(since I'd allowed Masaru to sleep on the bottom where there's more room, I'd been forced to squeeze in among the junk on the top shelf), when the door suddenly slid noisily open.

Grabbing the still-sleeping Masaru while I slowly awoke, Soifon looked sternly at me while tucking her limp sister under her arm. "Are you satisfied with having seen her overnight?" Soifon asked me, evidently caring more about my opinion than Masaru's.

I nodded groggily and half-fell, half-jumped down from the shelf. Noticing Renji standing behind Soifon, I was immediately awake. "Renji, what're you doing here?" I wondered aloud.

"Yes, Renji," Soifon cut in, "What _are _you doing here? If I recall correctly, I insisted I didn't need your help, but you followed me here anyway!"

Renji blushed slightly, and stuttered a bit before finally saying, "Well, I figured Masaru wouldn't come quietly, so you'd probably need help-"

"And you think I'm not strong enough to handle my fifteen-year-old sister?"

As Renji continued to make a fool of himself, I figured out what he was here for. After I'd blatantly rejected him after finally realizing his feelings for me, he'd quickly turned his gaze to Masaru for some reason or another. Honestly, I don't know what the heck he was thinking, but love doesn't have to make sense.

As the argument between Soifon and Renji came to a close, Ichigo and Masaru began to stir. Masaru was instantly awake once she noticed she was in someone else's grip, and without thinking, chomped down on Soifon's arm.

"Agh!" Soifon shouted indignantly, dropping her troublesome sibling.

"You'll never ta- oh, it's you, Neechan," Masaru retorted.

"Get out of my room," Ichigo mumbled blearily, "It's too early to be shouting..."

"Where's Chibi-suke?" Masaru asked, looking right through Renji, to his dismay.

"I'm here instead, Masaru!" Renji exclaimed, clearly hoping it would make Masaru care. Unfortunately for him, it didn't.

After an unintelligible threat from Ichigo and Masaru 'accidentally' punching Renji in the face several times without even noticing, Soifon decided it was time to leave.

Masaru unhappily said goodbye to me and stomped on Ichigo's face to wake him up. Giving me the 35th 'final' hug, she finally went quietly with Soifon and Renji.

None of us realized what kind of terror was awaiting her in Soul Society.

**Ooh, foreshadowing! As always, you will be given a virtual plushie of your choice if you review! Constructive criticism is what I'd most prefer, but you can flame as much as you please. You'll still get a plushie either way XD I'm really that desperate!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! I'ts my goal to update once a month, but I may not be living up to that, especially with school starting. Whatever. Masaru's POV!**

**Disclaimer; Mouch does not own, because if she did, Toushiro would rule all.**

Blegh. School. Boooooorrrrrringggggg.

People were oddly surprised to see me there, for some reason. One of my buddies murmured, "So it didn't happen yet, huh...?"

I don't know what 'it' was, and I was trying not to care, but by the end of the day, so many people were talking about 'it' that I was beginning to freak me out. Clearly, after 'it' happens, I'm not going to be in school anymore.

Trudging home afterwards, wondering what 'it' was, I barely remembered I had to hurry. I had private training after school today.

Picking up my pace, I reached home within minutes. Strangely enough, Soifon was waiting at the door. You'd think that with captain duties as well as being the head of the family, she'd have something more important to do than make sure her little sister got to lessons on time.

"I'm going, I'm going," I groaned as she opened her mouth. She sent me a scalding glare.

"Masaru," she said unsteadily, "Your private training has been cancelled for today. For forever." She continued glaring at me, waiting for it to sink in. I stared blankly back, having a horrible, mind numbing idea what she was talking about.

Not wanting to accept what had finally happened, I asked, "Why were they cancelled?"

"The same reason," she whispered, barely containing her emotions, "That you won't ever be involved in any events in the Soul Society again. That you're presence is being requested in _that room."_

That room. No. No. That room, in the basement of every noble family's estate. Nononononono.

Soifon's snap of her fingers, the hands grabbing either arm, those same hands dragging me into the basement. None of it registered, nothing. The only image imprinted in my mind was that of the room, with the Captains seated on their raised platform behind the low stone wall, looking down at me in disgust. No No No.

And there I was, the faces of all the captains except my sister, who was still at my side, wearing expressions not exactly matching the ones in my head in some cases, even worse than I'd imagined in others. No.

Captain Yamamoto opening his mouth, telling me that the trainers had decided I wasn't worth it, that I'd never become a secret agent. That I was going to be cast out of not only the Fon family but the Soul Society itself. No.

Yamamoto's grim face, Unohana's sympathetic one, Byakuya, as unreadable as ever, and, most unbearable of all, the ugly, cold look on Toushiro's beautiful face. No...

Then I'm turning to face Soifon as she makes three quick, painful slashes on my face, one vertical, two horizontal. An F-shaped scar on my left cheek to mark me as unworthy of the Fon clan. NO!

And suddenly Byakuya's next to me, saying something unbelievable. "Now, as I requested, Miss Masaru will now be accepted back into the Soul Society," he announced to a look of general bewilderment, "as a member of my own family."

WHAT?

But... I've got the scar! And Yamamoto... And Soifon still looks so aggravated, and the captains are all exclaiming in surprise, except for the geezer himself... with a strange combination of pride and happiness plastered across his features.

I pinch myself. I raise a hand to the still-bleeding letter carved into my cheek. My hand comes away bloody. I'm not dreaming. Everything is blissfully, mind-blowingly real. I'm staying. I'm a Kuchiki.

And the plan! The delightful, dastardly plan I would use to impress Toushi! It could still work!

But then it hit me. Byakuya would never let me obtain such a position. I'd be like Rukia. Stuck.

Well, at least I'm still in the Soul Society! It would be harder without the plan, but I could still get him to turn his gaze to me!

I was exhilirated, basking in the glow of my success. Seeing as many of the Captains know and like me, once the information sunk in, I was swamped in congratulatory hugs. Unohana, Ukitake, and (strangely enough, since you'd never expect him to put up with me) Mayuri were especially excited and relieved. Even Yamamoto-jii shook my hand, never losing the glint in his eye. Secretly, I know the geezer likes me almost as much as Ukitake.

Toushiro hadn't budged from his seat, staring at me with unbridled shock. I smirked and stuck my tongue out at him playfully before my arm was grabbed by Byakuya as he lead me out the door.

As soon as we were clear of the house, I hesitantly began, "Er, I don't know why you did it, but-"

"No problem." was his brief answer to my unasked question. "Rukia would never have forgiven me if I'd let them drive you out. Besides, you're loved by so many people around here that you'd have somehow ended up back here anyway."

When I think about it, I probably would have found a way back in myself without anyone's help anyway, but what Byakuya did definitely sped up the process. Then another thought crossed my mind; I was Rukia's little sister now! No more oppression by a closedminded sneak!

I could barely hold back my excitement. When we reached Kuchiki manor, Renji burst out the front door, shouting "Captain! I've been looking all over-" and that's when he noticed me. Oh crap.

Suddenly trying to look cool and calm, he continued, "Oh. I see you managed to convince Yamamoto-jii."

Aww, was he worried about me? I guess he deserves a reward for caring. I smiled sweetly and said, "Hello, Renji."

He practically melted on the spot. Staggering toward the fence, he babbled something about the office and how he'd better get back.

I saw a shadow of a smirk cross Byakuya's - no, I guess I actually have reason to call him Bya-nii now - face as he told me that he should get back too and that Rukia was inside.

Opening the door, I was practically ploughed over by what seemed like every female fukutaichou I know, starting with Yachiru. "Ru-chan!" she exclaimed as everyone else pounced on top of us.

Somehow I was simultaneously being smothered by Yachiru's face, Rangiku's boobs, and (?) Nemu's butt. I heard Isane and Kiyone giggling merrily in the background and Rukia shouting, "Stop strangling my little sister!"

When I finally got my breath back, it was all I could do not to laugh. Here were all my best friends(plus whiny little Momo, who I only pretended to be the friend of so I wouldn't feel guilty) looking as if they'd been on the verge of tears, so excited that I was still here that they'd almost strangled me on sight. I don't know what I'd do without them!

After several minutes of frenzied celebration, Matsumoto suggested we go to the human world and do some post-success shopping, and, disregarding Nanao's comment about the already low funds of the Women's Society, we decided to set off.

"First, though," Matsumoto tutted, "We have to fix up this scar! I bet it would look really good if we cleaned it up and put you in a punk loli outift or something!"

Seeing as punk loli was my favorite style, I dashed upstairs to find all my possessions had already been moved into the usual room I stayed in here and spent little time picking out a wrinkly black blouse, a red-and-black plaid skirt, slipping on my favorite boots, and styling my short hair into a sloppy, spiky ponytail.

After letting Rukia use kido to stop the bleeding from my scar (but not allowing her to erase the scar completely, since I didn't know if it was legal to let such things heal even if I was allowed back into the Soul Society), we set out for Earth.

After reaching the place, we walked to a place called Urahara Shouten, where everyone else's gigais were stored(I made a habit of leaving mine at the Kurosaki's, so that was our next stop). Two people I didn't recognize were sitting on opposite sides of a table, one a man, one a woman.

The long-haired woman turned her head as we entered, her eyes falling on me. "Soifon," she muttered, "You look like her."

The first pang of pain since I'd been adopted into the Kuchiki family exploded inside my chest. I tried not to let it show as I stared back at her. Finally, I stepped forward, holding out my hand.

"Masaru Ku-" I stopped short. "Fon. Masaru Kuchiki-Fon." I don't know why I had suddenly decided to keep the name Fon, but I just couldn't seem to think of myself just as Masaru Kuchiki.

The woman did nothing for a moment, contemplating my slip, but finally took my hand. "Yoruichi Shihouin."

"Yoruichi?" I exclaimed, not thinking. So this was her. My sister wasn't exaggerating when she said she was beautiful, but I'm not into girls. In fact, if not for the fact that she has such a high role of importance, I bet that Soifon herself would have been kicked out of the family for swinging that way. Unfortunately for her, from the way Yoruichi had been looking at the man in front of her just now, I had a sense that she wasn't into girls either.

Wait. No. Soifon isn't my sister anymore.

Yoruichi suddenly breaks into a grin. "So you're that pesky little girl Soifon always complains about." Soifon talked about me? "She always said you were pretty smart, just that you wasted your talents," Yoruichi continued, obviously able to tell how I desired to know what my previous sister had thought of me. "When I think about it, though, you really don't look alike up close. Different coloring. You're taller. And you look a lot more like the younger Soifon."

Well, duh. I'm younger than her.

"I'm sure that you'll keep that childish look, though," Yoruichi pushed on. "Soifon was under... different circumstances. A shame about the scar," she added as an afterthought.

She knows what it means, I'm sure of it. She's probably wondering what I'm doing with all these Soul Reapers if I've been kicked out. Then again, maybe she's put two and two together and realized with the help of my last name.

Matsumoto cleared her throat. I realized we'd been talking as if no one else were there, even though we were surrounded by people. I looked embarassedly around the shop as they retrieved their gigais with the permission of the man I learned was named Kisuke.

It was awkward to be alone in the room with Kisuke and Yoruichi. After a breif silence, Kisuke nodded at me and told me, "You know, we were both kicked out too."

Yeah. I knew that. I slightly remembered Kisuke's name from when I was much, much younger, when Soifon had first been hired by Yoruichi. She'd had a habit back then of breaking into rants about Yoruichi's beauty, about Yoruichi's perfection, and especially how she couldn't trust Kisuke.

I did nothing but nod back, indicating I knew what he was talking about. Yoruichi was smiling again, and I was surprised when she said, "You're just like how Soifon was when we first met. Staring in awe, though in your case it's probably more because you don't know what to say than because of my status."

"Er," I stammered, "No one's ever said we're alike before." It's true. Most either say I'm so much more exciting than her(my friends) or that I'm a total disappointment by comparison(my family).

Yoruichi said nothing, the smile still playing on her lips. Kisuke is opening his mouth to say something, but shuts it with a snap when the door opens and my friends pour out.

Thanking them for their service, we head to the Kurosaki's (much to Ichigo's horror) and hit the town. Nanao dogs us for every purchase, but it's worth it. By the end of the day, The Women's society is out of money and everyone's arms are filled to the brim with bags. Byakuya greets us with a tired sort of grunt and tells us to meet him downstairs when we've put our things away.

We follow his directions and end up in one of the many living rooms with him practically falling asleep when we walk in the door. After shaking him awake several times over, he finally snaps into focus and stands up, clearly thinking he'll be too tempted to fall asleep again if he's comfortable. Meanwhile, Rukia and I settled down on a couch.

Stifling a yawn, Byakuya began. "It's been decided that Masaru can stay on in the Soul Society as a Kuchiki, but there are apparently some things to take care of first. Masaru," he says, turning to me, "Ukitake has requested that you be released from school with full qualifications. He wishes to speak to you tomorrow."

I nod, indicating that I know where to go, since I've visited him many times before.

"Yamamoto-taichou has requested that I allow you to accept whatever position you are offered as a fully qualified Soul Reaper, no matter how influential or dangerous," he continued, causing both Rukia and I to stifle surprised gasps. "And to grant Rukia the same freedom as well." Rukia's and my jaws dropped. Was he serious?

Byakuya waved his hand, dismissing us. We didn't budge. No way. Yamamoto-jii must somehow know of our plan. It's about time I started giving the guy proper credit for all he's cone for me.

But first, I hug Byakuya. Surprised by the gesture, he stiffens, and pats my head a little. That's all I need. Smiling at him, I walk past him and up the stairs, only letting loose once I get to my room.

I give a shout of joy and twirl and twirl until I fall down on the bed. Today is indubitably the best day of my life.

**So watcha think? Anyone who reviews gets a cookie! Store-bought, of course, considering I suck at cooking. Also, thanks to Caitlyn for reviewing!**


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